I’m pinging you ladies because I think at least one of you might know the answer to my question:
We are getting a 5 gallon bucket of figs from a neighbor (same neighbor that gave us the bushels of apples). I am going to put up fig preserves from this. But, I would also like to do dried candied figs. You know the candied fruit cubes that you use in fruitcake cookies? I can’t find any recipes or instructions for these. The dehydrator manual I have tells me to quarter the figs to dehydrate them. Not what I’m looking for. You know the instructions for preparing citron melon? I’m looking for that kind of thing only for figs. Can I use the same basic instructions for figs too?
Inquiring minds, etc.
Meant to ping you ladies to post 108 too. Not sure what happened there.
If this recipe isn’t what you’re looking for, there are other links below it for candied fruits - maybe one of those will be The One? Good Luck!
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/819/Candied-Figs110272.shtml
My method for candying fruit:
Simmer fruit in a medium-heavy syrup, until cooked through.
Let cool, and keep in the syrup overnight.
(I sometimes start with canned fruit, in which case, skip this step.)
Strain fruit, reserving the syrup. Sprinkle more sugar generously over the fruit, shake until coated, and put back in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, take part of the syrup, add half-to-one cup of sugar depending on the size of the batch. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar, let cool slightly, then mix into the fruit.
(The reserved syrup also makes great flavoring.)
Repeat this step once a day for 3-4 more days. Each time, the sugar will have drawn out a lot of moisture from the fruit. On the last day, use the fruit leather tray in your dehydrator, and dry the fruit. It should be dry or just barely tacky to the touch, and should not have moist pockets in the center.
Roll in sugar one last time. Store in an enclosed container (the fruit will try to pull moisture out of the air).
This results in candied fruit with a great flavor, but the texture is all over the board, depending on the type of fruit. It also takes a long time, and uses a LOT of sugar. I’m currently experimenting with adding pectin at the start, which should make the texture more consistent and cut down on waste, but I don’t have the results of that yet.
Fruits with lots of “body”, like pineapples, come out best. So do gelled fruits, like that cranberry sauce you can get in a can. I’ve never tried it with figs, but they should work pretty well.